Sustainability
Building Sustainable IY Teaching Practices To ensure the positive effects of Incredible Years continue to be experienced by schools long after teachers have finished their training, it is crucial to consider how to build sustainability of the Incredible Years programme into schools. Systemic Implementation To effectively embed IY into schools, strategic planning at a systems level is required. It is crucial that the programme is considered to be a new way of working, and is adopted at every level throughout the school rather than just as an auxiliary programme. Research has shown that positive psychological programmes similar to the Incredible Years that have been implemented school-wide have been far more effective than those implemented in isolated classrooms or through pastoral care initiatives.Waters, L. (2011). A review of school-based positive psychology interventions. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28(2), 75-90. (C) It can also be beneficial to try to encourage schools to use aspects of the IY model in ways outside of the classroom, such as using behaviour plans as a way to approach a school-wide problem such as litter in the playground. Schools should aim to integrate at least one Incredible Years goal into their annual strategic planning, and teachers-in-training or who have already been trained in IY should strive to have at least one Incredible Years goal for their professional development plan each year. In this way, the programme begins to become embedded in the fabric of the school. If you are having difficulty getting managers and administrators to see the benefits that a school-wide approach can have, invite them to use basic IY approaches in their daily work. Often, once non-teaching staff see how effective IY practices are, management and administrators will become enthusiastically creative about Incredible Years, and will begin to embed aspects of the programme throughout their professional lives. Here are some ways that you could help to embed IY practice at all levels into schools: * Using behaviour plans creatively. IY behaviour plans can be implemented on more than just the individual level. Some schools are using behaviour plans at every level – individual, classroom, and even school-wide. One school successfully used a school-wide behaviour plan to effectively deal with a litter problem. * Incorporating video reviews and self-reflections into staff performance reviews. The IY model of receiving constructive feedback on video footage of teachers’ work can be beneficial outside of just the IY training programme. The IY model of video reviewing encourages self-reflection and can lead to teachers having greater insights into their own performance and efficacy of their practice. * Incorporate discussions on IY practice and encourage resource sharing at staff and syndicate meetings. Having regular discussions about IY practice at staff team meetings keeps staff informed and cognizant of IY practice in their daily work. Some schools have set up either virtual or physical systems to allow staff to share and discuss IY resources freely. This collaborative process also has the benefit of encouraging creativity and peer support. Supporting teachers post-programme It is important that teachers get the support they need to keep IYT fresh in their day-to-day classroom practices, even after the programme has ended. Even in schools where most of the staff are Incredible Years trained, it can be hard to see evidence of the benefits of the IY model if it is applied inconsistently across the school. Support for teachers after they have completed the programme is crucial to ensuring fidelity and sustainability of the programme. Here are some ideas for how you can help your teachers to feel supported in their Incredible Years practice long after they have completed their sessions: * Develop a Newsletter for your cluster. A newsletter can be a great way to both make your cluster feel more connected and to disseminate important information and knowledge. Tukituki RTLB (cluster 23) has a regular newsletter available here that could be a useful model for those thinking about setting up a Newsletter. * Encourage schools to add a page to their website about the Incredible Years. The page should focus on the work that they are doing to embed the philosophy of a relational approach to managing children successfully. This encourages schools to self-reflect on a school-wide level, and also showcases to the community the benefits of positive psychological programmes. * Suggest that schools could start a virtual community to support their teachers through their IYT practice. Some schools have set up Facebook pages, whereas other schools have done this through Virtual Learning Networks (VLNs). There are a range of options available for virtual communities – a platform should be selected based on the specific needs of the school or cluster. Some clusters have even instigated special Incredible Years ‘alumni’ or ‘graduate’ Facebook pages to help connect teachers who have completed the IY programme, long after the sessions have finished. * Remind teachers about the value of the holistic approach to the programme. In some schools the majority of strategies are embedded, however the social and emotional coaching, problem solving, and anger-management strategies can be some of the last to be implemented. Emphasise the value of embedding the IY programme holistically and at all levels, rather than focusing on some aspects of the programme and neglecting others. You can support your clusters further with ongoing communications and reminders in the form of newsletters, email updates or virtual communities. __FORCETOC__ Category:Sustainability Category:Sustainable Practice Category:IYT Practice